November 11, 2006
Senator Chafee: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
I previously wrote about the policy reasons behind my decision not to vote for either Chafee or Whitehouse in this week's U.S. Senate race.
Then there was the word that Chafee might not stay a Republican after all.
Now comes the re-affirmation that Chafee will indeed continue to block the nomination of John Bolton:
Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., who was defeated by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse on Tuesday, told reporters in Rhode Island that he would continue opposing Bolton. That would likely deny Republicans the votes needed to move Bolton's nomination from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the full Senate."The American people have spoken out against the president's agenda on a
number of fronts, and presumably one of those is on foreign policy," Chafee
said. "And at this late stage in my term, I'm not going to endorse
something the American people have spoke out against."...
And how much did the Republican establishment spend on this Senator? For what end?
John Podhoretz, writing over at The Corner, writes about a New York Times article on the U.N. ambassador position:
Who has made it impossible for John Bolton to be confirmed by the Senate? Lincoln Chafee. Who has recently said he may not remain a Republican notwithstanding the millions upon millions of dollars spent by the Republican party to retain his seat? Lincoln Chafee. Who, therefore, in the delusional estimation of a New York Times reporter, might be John Bolton's replacement at the U.N.? Lincoln Chafee! "Names that have been floated both inside and outside the administration," writes reporter Helene Cooper in a risible piece today, "include Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Iraq; Philip D. Zelikow, the State Department counselor; Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs; and even Mr. Chafee."
Left-wing editorializing masquerading as a news article - yet another example of the high standards at the NY Times.
Isn't it interesting how the definition of compromise post-election has been defined by the Left as capitulation on matters of principle?
One of the reason some of us are pleased that the Democrats now control the Congress is that they are now heavily accountable for American public policies in the next two years going into the 2008 elections. We will now get to see what they are really made up of. Simplistic knee-jerk negative reactions to President Bush will no longer cut it.
BTW, Helene Cooper is a former ProJo reporter.
And now, back to the liberal media canard.
Ah, Senator Chafee.
Today, you're a {Ed: Inappropriate words do not belong on Anchor Rising} in government.
In January, you'll take your considerable talents back to the private sector where you'll be a {Ed: Ditto} in a paper hat asking "Would you like fries with that?"
Good riddance to bad rubbish disguised as a Republican.
We should hook wires up to his father's casket. He's probably spinning fast enough to generate a substantial amount of electricity.
Posted by: Greg at November 11, 2006 6:06 PMGreg, you're true class act. Any other dead people you'd care to crack jokes about?
Posted by: Anthony at November 11, 2006 6:15 PMTony,
The corpse of your hero's dead father is STILL twice the man that his son is.
And he's dead. I don't think he cares what jokes I may crack.
Posted by: Greg at November 11, 2006 6:20 PMSounds like one of those gifts you wish you still had the receipt for...
By the way, I hear an ambassadorship to Mongolia might be available for the taking ... I think they have lots of horses there, too!
Posted by: Will at November 11, 2006 10:43 PMI think Ambassador to Denmark would be more fitting, since for years now he's been subjecting the public to his Hamlet schtick:
"Is it nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of a yes vote, or a no vote?"
"Should I stay a Republican, or become a Democrat?"
"Should I stay in Rhode Island, or move to Virginia?"
Posted by: Tom W at November 12, 2006 9:45 PMThis editorial pretty much sums up my feelings.
Lincoln's Assassination
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 11/10/2006
Abuse Of Power: Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., thinks defeat at the polls gives him license to spend his remaining weeks in office wrecking U.S. foreign policy. It's a final outrage from a traitor to party and president.
The most liberal Republican in the Senate, fresh from being kicked out by voters on Election Day, has taken it upon himself to act on behalf of all of America. And with typical "Lincolnian" wisdom, he figures that the election was a referendum on ousting John Bolton as our ambassador to the United Nations.
Chafee, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has announced he will serve as the spoiling vote in this year's lame-duck session to prevent moving Bolton's nomination from that panel to the Senate floor for confirmation. That means Bolton's recess appointment would come to an end.
"The American people have spoken out against the president's agenda on a number of fronts, and presumably one of those is on foreign policy," said Chafee, with remarkable hubris coming from a loser. "And at this late stage in my term, I'm not going to endorse something the American people have spoken out against."
But polls show that fewer than a third of Americans trust the corruption-plagued world body, the budget of which is more than one-fifth paid by U.S. taxpayers. Bolton has been one of the most powerful and articulate voices ever for cleaning up the U.N.
Even liberal Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz is a Bolton fan, comparing him to past U.N. ambassadors such as Adlai Stevenson, Arthur Goldberg, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeane Kirkpatrick, and upbraiding Senate Democrats for blocking him.
So cutting down the man who was our best chance to reform the U.N. has nothing to do with the popular will — and everything to do with Chafee getting the satisfaction of stabbing President Bush and the GOP one last time.
After his defeat, Chafee finally admitted he and the GOP were a marriage of convenience, with divorce proceedings likely soon. He said he had remained a Republican largely because it let him bring pork-barrel spending home. How telling is that about how far this party has lost its way?
Chafee already is a liberal Democrat on any and every issue you can think of. Last year, he voted to hike income taxes and was the only Republican senator to vote against Operation Iraqi Freedom; he opposes capital punishment and favors gay marriage, gun control, abortion and racial quotas.
Democrats would never have tolerated that kind of defiance. The Republicans' failure to stop the Chafees in their ranks is one of the key reasons for their larger failures.
Lincoln Chafee needs to go away. His Mr. Independent Go It Alone act is beyond tiresome.
Posted by: Tim at November 12, 2006 10:42 PMI disagree with the editorial's position on Bolton.
If the US disapproves of the UN, we need to formally pull our funding rather than send a loud mouthed bully to represent us in a diplomat's role. The purpose of doing the reverse can only be expensive and unnecessary entertainment.
This is not proferring a Draconian alternative as a means of getting rid of Bolton. Speaking as a former Dem and supporter of the UN, we need to pull our funding of the UN. The involvement of Kofi Anan's son (and possibly Kofi himself) in trading with and profiting from Saddam Hussein's supposedly embargoed government was the last sleazy straw. The UN as it currently functions has lost its way.
Posted by: SusanD at November 12, 2006 11:00 PM